Black Powder Linguistic Pet Peeves

[tenngun]

We get time specific, long Hunter period, F&I war, AWR, Federal, Mountain Man ect. But we read every thing. And we stand on this side of history.
People were not as specific, and had regional variations and what ever they said changed over time. So we read an eighteenth century peice and the writer says x and we latch on to it, but thirty years later, early nineteenth century it fell in to disuse.... but we still cling to it as an historic term.
I’ve seen ‘trade musket’ in eighteenth century writing, although we wouldn’t call a trade gun a musket today, and I don’t recall coming across that more then once, so it may have been rare.
We’re carful to say Northwest gun or maybe fusil but I’ve seen ‘London fuze’ written several times, and even American and Belgium made copies carried English proof and markings.
Fuze is a phonetic spelling but why specify London? Maybe that was common terms?
I think it stands hard for us today to pick out proper terminology for a particular time.
I wonder if we had a time machine and you went back in to the past and talked to Bean or the Brothers Hawken or Hines and said ‘drop‘’length of pull’ or ‘hight of comb if any would know what you talking about.

 

[stewart.leach]

Robby and I think alike, be tolerant of folks who are not in the know, and try to get them hooked on a better way of shooting and hunting. I've just gone so far as to recondition an older right handed 50 cal CVA flintlock to have as a loaner gun. Spent some of my enforced down time at the bench JB-ing the barrel, browning everything, stripping the stock, resin bedding it, then staining very dark and applying many coats of BC Tru-Oil. Darned if it doesn't shoot pretty well now. Might take it to this weekend's Christmas blanket shoot at Fort Lupton.

 

[Bob McBride]

I guess since I wrote the OP I'll add my 2 cents. I have no problem with any slang terms used at all in general conversation so long as it's generally known what is meant. That said, academically speaking, I do like order and a common vocabulary when seriously discussing in a historical context, though I'm no stitch counter and I'm not into arguing vagaries, mostly. I know not everyone is into the history part of things and making everyone feel welcome regardless of their views on the little things is most important for la cosa nostra.....

I will say "Side Slapper' might be my least favorite term, followed closely by "Limb Chicken". They're Squerlz city boy.

 

[Griz44Mag]

I have to laugh, what difference does it make? We are NOT in the 15th - 16th - 17th -18th century.
I am afraid that being TOO rigid and proper will make one bitter and hateful. You know - like Black Heart, or was that Black foot?
Those who are TOO rigid wind up drifting off into their own world of contempt and disgust for pretty much everything and everyone around them. No reason to be "that guy".
Life's too short to run around with drama queen panties shoved up your crack....
As long as we are making white smoke - who the hell cares what you call it??????

 

[hanshi]

Being a very easy going guy there is not much that truly bothers me when talking guns/shooting/hunting. I just call my flintlock "my rifle" and often add the caliber. If confronted by a duffer I get more specific and say "flintlock longrifle". The only "cutesy" (there's one for ya') name I use is Ol' Loudmouf" for my smoothbore, for obvious reasons.

 

[Bob McBride]

I have to laugh, what difference does it make? We are NOT in the 15th - 16th - 17th -18th century.
I am afraid that being TOO rigid and proper will make one bitter and hateful. You know - like Black Heart, or was that Black foot?
Those who are TOO rigid wind up drifting off into their own world of contempt and disgust for pretty much everything and everyone around them. No reason to be "that guy".
Life's too short to run around with drama queen panties shoved up your crack....
As long as we are making white smoke - who the hell cares what you call it??????

So I'll put you down in the 'No pet peeves' column.....

 

[Griz44Mag]

So I'll put you down in the 'No pet peeves' column.....

The only real pet peeve I have is the old lady leaving the toilet seat down......

 

[Bob McBride]

The only real pet peeve I have is the old lady leaving the toilet seat down......

Yea, man, you've gotta get that under control.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Yea, man, you've gotta get that under control.

AGREED....!

LD

 

[sawyer04]

There is a difference between a rifle and a gun and I am not talking boot camp training, this is my rifle and this is my gun, if you get my jest.

 

[Musketeer]

What's a FRIZZEN.

It's always sounded to me like something Ricky Ricardo would have said. "Lucy, it's frizzen in here! I'm going to call Fred and tell him to turn up the furnace."

 

[Sam squanch]

Don’t know how true this is... I was told Australians abbreviated their words to keep talk to a minimum, because of flies constantly buzzing around. No insults intended.....

 

[flinter1977]

The only thing that really bothers me and where I draw the line is when people call their fire locks flinters.

 

[Josephg]

Abbreviations.

 

[Rudyard]

Cocks for sure & 'Frizzen' may have old use. But Hammer ,Steel & , Battery likley date earlier. By the time your into' Dog heads' &' Serpantine's ' I think catchy modernism's are rare . Wheelise ? Nah . String burners maybe !.
Rudyard

 

[sawyer04]

The only thing that really bothers me and where I draw the line is when people call their fire locks flinters.

Sounds kind of cute, warm and fuzzy, doesn't it?

 

[Newtire]

AGREED....!

LD

I have my own bathroom. My motto is. "C'mon in, we'll leave the seat up for ya."

 

[N.Y. Yankee]

I prefer to call things by their correct name. That said, I once saw someone showing off their new stainless steel, 28 inch barreled, telescope sighted rifle with a nylon sling and speed loader tube holder mounted to the synthetic stock, call it an "old smokepole". I said "no, it's not". "Huh?" "Right".

 

[Capnball]

I prefer to call things by their correct name. That said, I once saw someone showing off their new stainless steel, 28 inch barreled, telescope sighted rifle with a nylon sling and speed loader tube holder mounted to the synthetic stock, call it an "old smokepole". I said "no, it's not". "Huh?" "Right".

He's reenacting the battle of mars

 

[Eric Krewson]

My experience at the public range has all been positive, sometimes everyone keeps to themselves but having a perpetual motor mouth I can't help starting conversations with everyone. Only the "black rifle, the Russians and Chinese at at the gate" types ignore me, these people tend to have "0" personalities anyway.

Usually I draw a small crowd of curious onlookers who have never seen a flintlock in action. When I tell them I built the gun and not from a kit they really take interest.

I like to help the every few other sidelock shooters who turn up if I can, be it to pull a stuck mini or talk about working up an accurate load.

One time I ran into a young vet severely scared by combat, he admitted openly that taking a life was something that he couldn't handle mentally and he had done it on several occasions. He said his mental condition deteriorated after fierce combat to the point that they shipped him from the middle east to Bosnia to decompress. My heart went out to him, poor guy, he was a mess, wracked with PTSD.

Anyway, he said he had a sidelock that he wanted to hunt with but every time he shot it it really hurt his shoulder. I let him shoot my Beck rifle which amazed him with how comfortable it felt on the shot.

A little more questioning and I realized his rifle had a deep hook Tennessee buttplate on it, he was shouldering it like any other rifle and the point of the return was gouging him in the shoulder hard every time he shot it.

I explained that one held these types of rifles in the upper crook of the bicep and demonstrated how with my rifle. He lit up and said, "now I see it".

I invited him over to the house to learn about bow making and flintlock building, he gave me his number. I called several times, I always got his father who fended off his calls saying his son wasn't available at that time. I imagined the worst, I wish I could have done more, very sad.